We're almost ready to go people! Tomorrow all participants will post their first stage. Since a couple of potential players asked me, I'll also write it here... If you want to play but have no time to post your stages as scheduled here, you can send me via PM in advance your stages and I'll post them for you every other day.Now, I remind everyone that in order to participate you just have to post a stage tomorrow. Even if you didn't tell me anything yet. All is still open.Here is the point system... everyone pay attention (especially the judges XD):on every round, each judge will have to assign 2 votes to each Giro: the "Technical rating" and the "Cultural rating". The former rates the pure sporting value of the whole route up to that stage, while the latter only judges the cultural/historical value of the last stage presented.Both ratings go from 1 (bad) to 5 (great). For each kind of rating, a judge can give a 5 only to one player, and in any case he cannot give the same rating to more than 2 players.All points assigned are simply added up together, every day. During the last 7 stages, however, the technical rating will be worth double.And that's it. If you have any questions, feel free to ask here

A race that doesn't give an attacker the chance to finish it off alone is not a race anymore.

Red Rick wrote:I'm gonna follow this fanatically, but not participate.

Someone make sure RCS is following this too

Y U NO play?

Don't want to spend too much time on it and awesome as it is, I don't want to half-ass it.

but you could be part of the jury, its great that mayo and Pricey_Sky applied but I think a fourth member wouldn't hurt Ps: I wonder that Libertine neither posts a route nor is he part of the jury. Libertine is such an important member of the race design thread that I am really sad he isnt included in the challenge

Gigs_98 wrote:Ps: I wonder that Libertine neither posts a route nor is he part of the jury. Libertine is such an important member of the race design thread that I am really sad he isnt included in the challenge

Libertine will play.

Libertine Seguros wrote:I shall enter, but my route is something of a rush. I shan't be able to do my eighty-paragraph stage summaries that I usually end up doing on the RDT here either I fear, do we just post the route or do we do a brief summary of the reasoning behind choosing that stage?

A race that doesn't give an attacker the chance to finish it off alone is not a race anymore.

Gigs_98 wrote:Ps: I wonder that Libertine neither posts a route nor is he part of the jury. Libertine is such an important member of the race design thread that I am really sad he isnt included in the challenge

Libertine will play.

Libertine Seguros wrote:I shall enter, but my route is something of a rush. I shan't be able to do my eighty-paragraph stage summaries that I usually end up doing on the RDT here either I fear, do we just post the route or do we do a brief summary of the reasoning behind choosing that stage?

The challenge is officially open! I'll kick it off with the Giro of Brullnux, who is on holiday and sent me his first few stages in advance. Here's the first one.

Brullnux wrote:LA CENTESIMA STAGE 1: PALERMO - AGRIGENTO 180.2kmFor the first time since 2008, the Giro starts in Palermo, and this time not for a TTT. Although the finish city is the same as the second stage of that year's Giro, the run-in is completely different, as we are coming from the north, no the south.

The stage contains six categorised climbs, and a few other uncategorised bumps along the road. The stage suits more durable sprinters like Sagan, Degenkolb and Matthews. The home crowds will be pinning their hopes on a late attack on the rise 3 and a half kilometre before the end that hits 12%, or, failing that, Felline is probably Italy's best chance today. 3000m climbing on day one of La Centesima should, hopefully, throw the competitors in medias res, and test the riders straight away.

A race that doesn't give an attacker the chance to finish it off alone is not a race anymore.

So here we are in my centenary Giro. For once in a break with tradition, the race has agreed to change its name to honour its modest organiser. All marketing material will be changed to celebrate Il Giro di Barmaher. This promises to be the most exciting Grand Tour in the history of mankind.

There were a few objectives that I had when I designed my Giro. First of all I wanted to embrace the whole of Italy. It was no possible to stage a realistic race that would visit every region of Italy including the islands. But I have succeeded in building a tough, exciting, varied Giro that manages to visit every region in the Italian mainland. This will celebrate the variety and breadth of Italy.

Secondly, I have always loved Italian cycling. Not just Il Giro, but also Italian classics. Therefore, we will see a homage to classic Italian classics. Il Lombardia, Strade Bianche, Milan San Remo and even Roma Maxima will be celebrated in a sporting sense, with stages closely relying on these races for inspiration.

Thirdly, we celebrate the Italian people in each stage. Every since an Italian girl let me touch her in a funny area after a Smashing Pumpkins concert in Dublin in the mid 90’s, I have always had a fascination with Italians. I will therefore try to tie in every stage with an Italian person. Politicians, artists, sports people and writers will be honoured. And a few more.

Additionally, my Giro will force all participants to consume a dish of the organiser’s choice within 1 hour of completing each stage. This will not only counterbalance the trend for riders to obsessively worry about their weight, but it will also allow them to experience the Italian cuisine that is so frustratingly close to them during Giri. If everyone is eating a big plate of carnarolli truffle risotto, you might as well enjoy it.

And finally, I have tried to cater for all cyclists. You will see classic stages, sprint stages, hilly stages, time trials (up, down and flat). You will see mountain stages involving classic climbs, finishing on the top of a hill and finishing with a descent. And you will not see any other country other than Italy.

So the Giro is going to start this time in Calabria. Calabria is one of the most fascinating regions of Italy. Rich in history and culture, the region has been important to the Greeks, the Romans, the Normans, and was a battleground in the unification of Italy.

The region is very underdeveloped and beautiful, so is perfect for cycling tourism.

My Giro first stage will start and finish in the region's capital, Catanzaro. This has always been an important city historically, as the town overlooks the bay to the east, which is part of the Ionian sea. And the trip down to the bay will be enjoyed by the cyclists. There will be lots of aerial shots of the canyon and town.

And we come down to the beach, which is very pretty, so more aerial shots as the Giro di Barmaher does wonders for Italian tourism in this southern part of the country.

It is not the most difficult stage, but the descent from the town is quite tricky, with a lot of sharp turns and a gradient average 5% over nearly 4 kilometres. After this it flattens out, apart from a bump as we get close to the finish.

BarmaherStage1.png (58.62 KiB) Viewed 1750 times

We should see good bike handlers come to the fore here. Strongmen. And this region is famous for strongmen, none more so than the father of bodybuliding, Charles Atlas. He was the developer of a bodybuilding method and its associated exercise program that was best known for a landmark advertising campaign featuring Atlas's name and likeness; it has been described as one of the longest-lasting and most memorable ad campaigns of all time

And to finish the day, each team will be fed a plate of Pignolata. It is a soft pastry, covered in chocolate and lemon flavoured syrup/icing. This pastry is half covered or iced in one flavouring and the other half in the other flavour, which hardens when the pignolata is ready to be served. Each pastry serves several people, and is meant to be cut into small pieces when served.

Before I start with the 1st stage of my giro I want to write some basic stuff about it. First of all here is the map:At this point you should be confused for the first time. Why are there only 8 stages, why are these stages so long, why is the number 1909 written in the corner and (to sum it all up) why the hell do I post the map of the first Giro d'Italia from the year 1909? Well, the answer shouldn't be that unexpected after you saw that picture: The route of my giro will be based on the route of the first giro ever. Although that first seems to be a pretty good idea if you consider that the goal is to design the 100th giro, but it also causes a very strange route. So for me personally its a little bit like an experiment, but I still hope that you guys will like my 100th Giro d'Italia

100th GIRO D'ITALIA stage 1: Milano - Verona (211 km)The start of my 100th giro will be in Milano, the city where the giro usually ends. However, as you can see on the little map, this giro will end there too, so I will write about the meaning of the city for cycling and the history of italy on stage 21. The starting line is beside the San Siro, a very famous football stadium in the west of Milan. There are two reasons why I situated the start there. 1.) There are other sports facilities directly next to the stadium, like a horse racing track or a golf court, so the area there is very famous for sports. 2.) The first official street which will be used is called Piazzale dello Sport which is simply suitable for the start of the 100th giro. After the rider leave Milan they will head north east in the direction of the first categorized mountain of the race. The fourth category climb to Gandosso comes after about 75 kilometers. The single point here, will probably go to the break. After a short descent there is a flat section of over 100 km's with the first intermediate sprint of the race, located in Brescia, as the only little highlight. Shortly after the riders pass Brescia the route peloton will be very near the Lago di Garda, a lake which is very important the the tourism of this region. Up to this point the stage is very easy with only one little bump which will have no influence into the race. That changes about 20 k's before the finish, when the climb to Montecchio starts. This is the first 3rd category climb and it is the reason why I think a stage like this would be extremely interesting as the first stage of a gt. That comes because after the descent there is hardly any flat before the finish in Verona. The point with Montecchio is is steepness with over 8% average elevation gain and sections well over 10%. The reason why I think these last 20 kilometers would be so interesting is the fight for the pink jersey. Every team will want to have the first maglia rosa and almost every team will have riders who could take it. It is just hard to say if a sprinter or a hill classics rider would win this stage. Even the break might have a chance because some sprint teams maybe think their sprinter cannot climb good enough (I doubt someone like kittel could win this stage), so there only would be a few teams left which would set the pace here. These teams ofc also would need to control the peloton on the last climb, but once again thats one hell of a work if riders attack all the time and the pace you set shouldnt be too high, so your sprinter doesnt crack. I really have no idea who would take this stage but If I would have to bet, my money would be on a rider like gerrans. Verona is probably one of the most beautiful cities of europe, with a big historical centre, full of old buildings. My stage will finish directly next to the beautiful Arena di Verona, a Roman amphitheater. Another reason why I think it could be difficult for sprint teams to catch attackers, is that the streets in Verona are often quite narrow and with cobbles. I even wanted to let the riders pass the Ponte Scaligero a historical, cobbled bridge but at the end I decided that it would be too dangerous if a sprint train rides over it.

My Giro will start in Tuscany, in what is in my opinion one of the most beatifull city's in the world. Firenze.

The Giro will start with a short prologue through the cultural center of the city riding past (and over) some if it's main attractions. Start will be at the Piazza Santa Croce in front of the Basilica with the same name. The route will take the riders to the other bank of the Arno were the riders will get a relatively long straight road. Up untill now the route has not been very technical but that's about to change. On the right the riders will see a special bridge, il Ponte Vecchio. The riders will not only get to see this bridge from the outside as they'll also cross it to get back to the other side of the river. This is where it gets real technical on the treachurous stones and it won't get any easier. That's because next up is the Galleria degli Uffizi. This will lead the riders onto the Piazza della Signoria where the riders will pass right under il David da Michelangelo. A fake, cause the real one is inside. Some smaller city roads will lead the riders back to the other side of the Piazza Santa Croce where the finish line is.

A short (5 km), technical prologue that should keep the GC very close.